German pork giant planning to enter Chinese market

German pork and meat giant Tönnies is planning to enter the Chinese market and thus grow substantially. This was revealed by Clemens Tönnies, CEO in the German newspaper Wirtschaftswoche.

The company, headquartered in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, in western Germany, would like to start up business together with a Chinese business partner. Eventual aim would be the erection of a Chinese national network, which could also deliver meat to the German market. With this goal in mind, the German company is currently developing novel packing and freezing logistics.

”We would like to organise meat distribution in China in an entirely novel way,” said Tönnies. At the moment, meat in China is distributed to small butcher shops through wholesale markets. These butchers usually pick up their deliveries by motorbike, without the use of cooling equipment.

The Chinese partner will invest about €60-70 million; it is unclear how much money Tönnies will invest.

In the past, Tönnies merely viewed China as an export market. Having 7,600 employees, the meat processor touched a turnover of €4.3 billion in 2010.